Music

Shake, Rattle And Toll: Berkeley's Bells Play Sounds Of Earth

8:04am February 10, 2015

by Laura Sydell

In celebration of its 100th anniversary, the bells of UC Berkeley's Sather Tower were programmed to play a score composed in real time by the data from seismic shifts happening under the campus.

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Music & Culture

One Of Sam Smith's Grammys A Win For Tom Petty, Too

6:27pm February 09, 2015

by Elizabeth Blair

The four Grammys awarded Sunday night to Sam Smith are good news not just for Sam Smith, but for Tom Petty, too. Petty and another songwriter will get a quarter of the royalties from the hit, "Stay With Me." It's not the first time a pair of songs have striking similarities to one another.

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Sam Smith accepts the award for Best New Artist at the 2015 Grammy Awards.

Music & Culture

Sam Smith Wins 4 Grammy Awards, Including Song Of The Year

2:48pm February 09, 2015

by Jacob Ganz

The British singer also won Best New Artist and Record of the Year, for "Stay With Me." Beck won Album of the Year for his subdued, folky Morning Phase.

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Actress Kristen Wiig participated in Sia's performance during the Grammy Awards.

A Grammy Wrap-Up, With Soft Music And Extra Beck

2:10pm February 09, 2015

by Linda Holmes

Linda Holmes and Stephen Thompson look back at the 2015 Grammys telecast and conclude that it could have used a little more joy.

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Rudresh Mahanthappa's latest album is Bird Calls.

Music & Culture

Bird Of A Feather: Rudresh Mahanthappa On Learning From Charlie Parker

9:53am February 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

There are no Parker tunes on the sax player's latest album, Bird Calls, but it's a tribute nonetheless.

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British singer Sam Smith has just released his debut album, In the Lonely Hour.

Music & Culture

A Young Man's Loneliness, And His Soulful Falsetto

9:28am February 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

The 22-year-old British singer Sam Smith broke through as the high-note voice snaking through an international club anthem. Now, he's written and recorded a debut album about love and loss.

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Beyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. The singer is up for six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.

Live-Blogging The Grammy Awards

9:42pm February 08, 2015

by NPR Staff

Linda Holmes and Stephen Thompson get together for the seventh time to live blog the Grammy Awards.

Photographer Chris Stein in the reflection of Debbie Harry's sunglasses.

A Place That Can't Exist Again: Blondie's New York

2:19pm February 08, 2015

by Meredith Ochs

Chris Stein's photos in Me, Blondie and the Advent of Punk Rock document a city that is barely recognizable today.

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Nile Rodgers (left) and Pharrell Williams (right) on stage with Stevie Wonder during a performance of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" during the 2014 Grammy Awards.

Music & Culture

On The Grammy Stage, Collaborations Will Rule

2:24pm February 07, 2015

During a Grammy telecast that's over three hours, only a dozen or so awards are handed out — but there will be a boatload of performances, most with more than one marquee musician on stage at a time.

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The sound salvation, cleaning up the nation.

Music & Culture

Radio, Radio: How Formats Shaped, Splintered And Remade Pop Music

12:57pm February 07, 2015

by Eric Weisbard

Over the second half of the 20th century, radio gave music its deepest connection to Americans. By splitting the dial into different formats, it produced a pop scene of striking diversity.